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Monday, May 8, 2017

Women’s Health Is on the Chopping Block, Again

My nieces, who range in age from 17 to 25, grew up in a very
different world from the one I knew coming of age in the 1970s.

For their entire lives, abortion has been legal. And Planned
Parenthood and other women’s clinics have served as a steadfast source of
health care.

Although access to reproductive care is still too often
contingent on income or zip code, until recently it felt like our fundamental
rights were, by and large, standing on solid ground.

It no longer feels that way — and that makes me truly afraid for
my nieces.

Politicians putting women’s health on the chopping block isn’t
new. But the pain feels so much sharper with this Congress and White House
chipping away at constitutional rights and slashing funding for women’s health.

The burden will fall heaviest on women who can least afford
cuts, but who will be forced to pay the heaviest price.

These attacks, which are part of the larger war on women, have
already begun in the few short months since Trump took office.

I wonder if he knew
or cared that Title X is a vital safety net program that has supported access
to affordable health care — including cancer screenings, well-woman exams, and
birth control — for millions of low-income people.

That means Planned Parenthood already can’t spend tax dollars on
abortions. So when politicians talk about “defunding” it, what they’re really
talking about is preventing women who rely on programs like Medicaid from
accessing other services — like pre-natal care — through Planned Parenthood.

If Congress were to successfully shut down Planned Parenthood
health centers, a breathtaking 2.5
million people, both men and women, would no longer have access to
cancer screenings, birth control, and other critical services each year —
likely causing a national health care crisis.

Whether she lives in the city, a suburb, or in a rural
community, a low-income woman would find herself with a personal health care
crisis like no other in recent times. For many, there are simply no other
affordable options to turn to if their local Planned Parenthood center shuts down.

Our right to safe, affordable, accessible health care is on the
chopping block. As the attacks ramp up, women of all ages, ethnicities, and
racial identities should be talking together, sharing together, and demanding
together our right to be healthy. Our health — and that of our families and
communities — should never be disregarded for the sake of political expediency.

For my nieces’ generation — and for women across the country —
the price is just too high.

Minister Leslie Watson Malachi is the director of African
American Religious Affairs at People For the American Way. Distributed by
OtherWords.org.

Thought for the day

“To be clear: For a candidate to say he is ‘waiting for God to speak’ viz election results is to say he is waiting for God to anoint him the rightful victor. It is to say that there is no world in which God would will for a Democrat to win.”